80. The Man Who Kept House

The Man Who Kept House by PC Asbjornsen and JE Moe illustrated by Svend Otto S.

The (Swedish?) story of a man who criticized his wife's housekeeping abilities. They swapped for the day and the rest, as they say, is history.

Mom's Review: This is a book I bought at the thrift store. It was thirty-five cents. That was too much. This books is all sorts of wrong. Yes, we laughed because the illustrations and the predicaments the man put himself in were just pure insanity. It's the whole "bumbling dad" thing that gives good fathers a bad reputation. But seriously, this man was the most stupid creature to grace the pages of a children's story. He put the cow on a roof to graze and then rigged the cow to a rope, placed the rope down the chimney and then tied it to his pants. Really? Really, stupid Swedish man?! Why did you think this would be a good idea? Of course, the cow ended up dangling off the roof by the rope around his neck. Who thinks this is a good illustration for a children's book? (Put your hand down before I smack it!) Seriously, I couldn't help but laugh and make light of the hanged cow. Oh, and the man beat a pig; I edited the part where the pig couldn't get up because it was so badly beaten. Eventually the wife comes home to "save the day" and cuts the cow down from the roof. The man, who was dangling over a boiling cauldron of porridge, since the cow he was attached to was dangling off the roof, ends up falling, head first, into the bubbling pot. ACK! This isn't a bad book, it's mental abuse. This is a book written by some one who hates children. Yeah, I should have read it first, but I was looking for a book we haven't yet read since we've been rereading some old favorites and therefore, I haven't really been blogging.

Daughter's Review: This book was horrible!